Teaching Stuff

Interesting commentary about why you shouldn't go into teaching here. I'd have to agree with most of what's there. I've had a great career and I'm still doing a little teaching and enjoying it but I don't know if I'd want to do it all over again. I could easily have made more money and had a fulfilling career working with the tools.

And on the subject of arming teachers? Below is from The View From the Porch. The best op-ed I've seen yet in the pro column. Plus, I'm a fan of her writing - refreshingly non PC with the proper amount of sarcasm thrown in for good measure.

"Arming Teachers"

This phrasing keeps popping up, as though there's some nefarious NRA plan to order teachers to form ranks in the gymnasiums (gymnasia?) of America, where they will each be issued a brace of sixguns in a buscadero rig and a GOP party registration form.

The reality of things is that we already have plenty of armed teachers in America, it's just that in all but a few enlightened states, they can only be armed at the grocery store and the mall and the gas station, not at work. In most states, they're not even protected by "gun in parking lot" laws that shelter employees of private employers, since the entirety of school grounds is usually verboten terrain for firearms.

"Well, what will keep some disturbed kid from snatching the teacher's gun?" The same thing that keeps them from snatching the teacher's gun at the grocery store and the mall and the gas station: they don't know it's there because that's how concealed carry works. The same thing that saves me from having long, dull conversations about the best brand of JHP with every gun otaku with whom I'm stuck in a checkout line will prevent the hypothetical gun grabs the antis are conjuring.

"Teachers should be teaching, not the last line of defense for their students!" Hey, guess what? They're already the last line of defense for their students. That's not a decision you or I or even they get to make; the asshole who decided he wanted to grab some headlines makes that decision. Their only decision is how effectively they want to do it. If you want to be an ineffective ablative meat shield, that's on you, honey. I've already decided that I ain't goin' out like that.

Here's the thing: As long as there are guns, there are going to be a certain amount of shootings, just like as long as there are booze and cars, a certain percentage of people are going to drive drunk.

The guns aren't going away. There are more of them in this country than there are people. States that have passed draconian restrictions on the scariest-looking guns report single digit compliance rates. The sort of creative little doucherockets that think the Columbine shooters were role models are gonna be able to get their hands on guns for decades to come no matter what improbable legislation you ram through today.

The single most viable thing we could do to stop school shootings (and most public mass shootings in general) is as unlikely as wishing all the guns into the corn field, and that's to have a near total media blackout on them. But as long as shooting a bunch of classmates remains the easiest way to get to the top of the news cycle, get your own Wikipedia page, and ensure more people know your middle name than the president's, we're going to continue to incentivize these little shits.

That leaves one really effective solution: Eliminating victim disarmament zones. Nothing takes the cachet off your trenchcoat massacre more than being shot in the ear by the pink Kel-Tec .380 of Mrs. Perkins, your remedial grammar/comp teacher.

And that's the thing! There's no need to force teachers to play hunter/killer SWAT commando. The training requirements outlined in Florida's hasty-ass legislation are ridiculous, and I say this as someone with a reasonably extensive firearms training resume.

The shooting problem here is the easiest possible one there is. There's no need to go in search of anybody; just get all the kids out of sight of the locked classroom door, post yourself up in the blind spot against the wall between the doorway and your young charges, and wait. If the disturbed youth somehow manages to force the door, you send him to the respawn point like a proper camperfag.

Bikes, Bikes, & More Bikes

Got just a little bit more done on the motorbike. I forgot that I had to modify the coaster brake lever to clear the new sprocket. It'll be easier with heat and I didn't want to drag the torch out, so I'll take it to work and do it there. I had to attend a meeting at the college the other day and then I worked in the lab on my CNC project. We had a bit of difficulty at first, but after I got it finished I didn't have time to pick up my fenders. I'll get them soon and get them installed. Not much left. I should have taken a photo of the CNC project and posted it. Maybe after I get it back from being graded.

Quickie fixture to machine the levers on my Sprint project. As long as I'm dragging parts to school, I'll take this up there as well and tack the little angles down onto the plate. I machined a bushing to go in the hole where the cable normally goes to keep it fastened down tight to the plate and I'll clamp the lever to the angles and I'll be able to mill some stock off where the pivot hole is at in order to fit in between the flanges that are on the handlebar. Should go quickly. Take a cut off both levers as shown in the photo and then flip them over and reposition to thin off the opposite side. I've got the part that needs machining running parallel with the edge of the plate so it should be easy enough to position it on the mill.

Surly came down yesterday and he used a couple of the tools to make a little headway on his Sportster project. We also talked over a few things concerning the bikes. The grandsons drug out the recumbent bike I made years ago and we found the back tire wasn't up to the job. Surly found another wheel out in the junk bike parts that should work. It was missing a tube but the tire is good, I had a tube in my stash, so I put that in the tire but decided to hold off on swapping it out on the bike. I've enough irons in the fire.

The weather's supposed to cool off again next week and we've got a bunch of rain on the way. I'll see if I can't force myself to get out in the shop and finish the motorbike and the Sprint levers in a timely fashion. I'm liking the look of the motorbike - anxious to see how the fenders are going to look on it. That might be all the incentive I need to get it buttoned up. 

Motorbike Progress

Kind of a slow start on the motorbike re-assembly but it's been chilly and when the Missus also came down with a cold, I figured I'd take it easy, rest up a bit and take care of her. It is going to be in the 50's all week, so that will help both of us wrap up the battle with the colds. I'll pick up the fenders today for the motorbike and I should be able to get the rest of it put together this week. When I get it all assembled I'll push it to the back of the shop and finish up the sidecar on the 900. That won't take long - just electrical, paint and then fasten down the diamond plate on the floor. Finish that part up and bring the BSA up front and see what Surly and I can come up with on that one.

I still have a little bit more to do on the taxes before I meet with the tax lady at the end of the week but I'm real close on that. I've got some other odds and ends on the list that need attending to as well but since the weather's warming up and there's some longer days, I should have a little more motivation to tackle them. Need to start getting out on the bicycle and do a little brisk walking. I've got a work/exercise schedule made up. Just need to get after it. I have lost a bit of weight, however, I think another 10 pounds should put me just about right. Just real glad it's warming up and it's comfortable to be outside without long underwear and a heavy coat. 

Dead People

Don't know why but Rory Gallagher popped into my mind. Probably something to do with St. Paddy's Day and the hazards of drinking too much Irish whiskey. Dude was one helluva guitar player until his liver shot craps and he passed away at the age of 47. Not the kind of music I listen to much these days but there was a time.

Speaking of dying, here's a recent conversation between the Missus and I:

Missus: "Didn't you work with a lady by the name of Genevieve at the KFC?"

Me: "Yeah, Why?"

Missus: "She died."

Me: "I'm sure she did. She was old when I worked there and that was fifty years ago."

Missus: "No. She just died. She was 101 years old."

Me: Whoa! That's something!

Pretty remarkable to make it past 100. She was a nice lady and a pleasure to work with.

I also just heard that a former student of mine was killed in an industrial accident. Forty years old. I just saw him a couple of weeks ago when Cuzzin Rick and I were out for breakfast. He was cutting up scrap metal and something fell on him according to the paper. Damn shame. Rest in Peace Josh and Genevieve.

Ending on a more cheery note, Frankie Flood left a comment a couple of posts back with a couple of links to videos on making the finger plate. They show the whole project from start to finish. The videos are as well made as the finished product plus there's an addition to make cross drilling small round stock easy. Thanks again Professor.

Bicycle Repairman

When I got the call from my buddy the other day, in addition to talking about perhaps taking a bicycle tour this summer, he wanted to know if I would be interested in welding up a part for the bike shop where I just had my bike overhauled. That's the bike above - expensive piece of gear. Aluminum frame with carbon fiber seat post and fork and top notch components. The bracket that the front derailleur bolts onto was broken. It's a small part, thin, and brazed onto the frame. I was a little concerned about getting it too hot when I TIG welded the break and loosening up the brazed joint. That along with not wanting to scratch or mar anything else. It was hard enough finding a spot to attach the ground clamp. Anyway, I got it done, looks good with minimum damage to the paint, and I swapped my labor for a pair of fenders for the motorbike.

I started back teaching this week. Looks like a pretty good class. I've had most of them in class before one time or another. Should be fun. It's only eight weeks and it'll pay for a trip to Alaska.

I came down with a cold - knew it was too good to last. I made it all winter long with no cold or flu and then I start having symptoms on the first day of Spring, I've got the scratchy throat, itchy watery eyes, runny nose, and a cough. All the classic symptoms. So far it's not too awful bad so it shouldn't slow me down too much. Just doesn't make me happy. Oh well, better days are coming.

Frame's Done

I got the motorbike frame all welded up and painted. I was looking at a picture I had of it when it was assembled and I got to thinking some chrome fenders might look nice. The only problem being there's no place to bolt a rear fender on so I made up a piece of tube to run across the chain stays with a hole drilled in it. Hopefully it won't interfere with anything else. The paint job is just a rattle can job, so it wouldn't take much to cut the tube out and touch up the paint if it doesn't work. I'm going to give the paint a few days to set up and then I'll see about getting it all back together again. Additionally, I've now got a couple of hooks and chain to hang things up so I can paint them. 

I got the new Cycle World and was surprised by the new format. It's now like Motorcyclist - more of a motorcycling lifestyle magazine, rather than the old road tests, expert columnists and race results. I'm about a fourth of the way through it. So far some good articles but it's now a quarterly rather than a monthly also. I like the way things were with one of them monthly and one quarterly as well as different takes on the sport. Looks like now they're both the same again. I figure that means one of them will be gone soon, at least with a printed copy.

I got a phone call from the salesman at the HD dealer last Friday. He said the new Sportster came in and that they were having some kind of shin-dig for St. Paddy's Day. I wanted to check it out but I went to the gym in the morning and I already had a date with the Missus to go out early afternoon. I'm going to try and get up there soon and check out the bike and see if they'll do anything on a trade with my Suzuki. Right now it's kind of a coin toss between the Royal Enfield or the Harley. Two bikes that aren't a thing alike, I know, but I'll see which one speaks to me the loudest. I do regret selling the other Sportster a bit. This one would be a bit more practical with a larger tank and an electric starter. To be honest, as a guy who's had a heart attack, I was a little concerned about having to kick start that old one. Once they're dialed in they're pretty reliable but if it didn't start on the first few kicks, I'd have to either call for help or an ambulance. 

Now it's make the fingerplate and get the fixture finished for machining the levers on the Sprint. I'm shooting for at least three projects with wheels to be completed this year. The motorbike will be the first. I'll get to work on the BSA and finish the wiring and paint on the sidecar project next. Need to stay busy - it's officially Spring as of today.

The Missing Link

Frankie Flood left a comment in the post that showed the small drill press hold-down. Apparently, it's called a fingerplate and he left a link in the comments to a site that has a nice explanation of how it was made with photos and in English, too. All the threaded parts are metric 4mm which would work out to being equal to a #8 machine screw. I'm going to make one up but I think I'll use #10 threads on the stud and hold-down simply because I'm kind of ham-fisted and I think the larger size will be more durable and convenient. I don't know if I'll cut the hold-down groove in the edges. I've got that nice little toolmakers vise I can put it in that should work just fine. I could set it on some parallels or I could machine a rabbet around the edge of the plate so it would sit down on top of the vise jaws when it gets clamped in. Regardless, thanks Frankie for the link.

I posted this one a few years back - the link to where it came from no longer works so all I know is there it is. That plus I really like the look of this thing. I'm thinking a similar look for the BSA might do it for Surly and I. I'll have to get his take on it. I'm planning on tackling the sidecovers for the Beezer as soon as I put the finishing touches on the motorbike.

I'm also working on a little fixture to modify a couple of clutch and brake levers for one of my old Sprints. The originals were steel and made to fit into brackets that were welded to the handlebars. I'm going to use aluminum levers from a Sportster but I have to mill a bit off the part that slips into the handlebar mount. I don't have a lot left to finish on the Sprint. Even if it doesn't actually run, I want it to the point where all it would take to make it go is gas and a battery.

Here's where I left off. I'll keep working on it off and on until I've got it all put together. I get the levers done and then I can get the clutch and brake cables made up and the front fender mounted. Nothing hard here, just needs my attention.

The latest Cycle World e-mail has a short write-up on the Royal Enfield Himalayan. A tad over weight and under powered but it's got its place according to them. Especially when you factor in the price. I'm thinking there should be one in the dealers within the next month or so. I definitely want to check one out.